Reaching for the Sky
Reaching For the Sky: A History of the World From the War of the Worlds to Mankind’s Entrance Into the Galactic Community by Jodie Arthur, PhD Introduction The human story has been ongoing for thousands of years. From the dawn of the Mu-based First Civilization over 14,000 years ago, mankind has gravitated towards forming nations. Many nations, such as Greece, Rome, Atlantis, Sumeria, Shambhala, China, Mongolia, Persia and Egypt, established mighty empires that would stand for centuries if not millennia. Heroic figures like Gilgamesh, Heracles, Beowulf, Siegfried and Sun Wukong echoed throughout history, informing future figures as well as fictional archetypes. These empires laid the groundwork for all of future civilization. The wonders they built, the cities they established and the cultures that were created continued to influence the world long after they collapsed. But collapse they all did. Regardless of their heroes, wonders and stories, every society would ultimately fade. The First Civilization fractured based on faith in the values represented by particular elements, the remnants and Atlantis sank beneath the waves. The Persians, Egyptians and Greeks found themselves conquered by Rome, which in turn was sacked by the Gauls and other conquered groups they had never fully pacified. China was subjugated and its subjugators soon fragmented. Every empire ends, this is an inevitability of history. Technology and magic usage too fluctuated as these events progressed. Some civilizations advanced beyond their peers. Primitive vehicles, unique forms of energy, early flying craft, alien-derived technology (including ancient robotics, holograms and transports) and many other advances were all made by ancient societies. And as they crumbled to pieces, these advances were lost. Magic remained largely a constant, remaining present as it evolved from the primitive “bending” of the First Civilization’s era to the more sophisticated practice of wizards like Merlin, tutor of Camelot’s great king Arthur, and John Uskglass, the first Sorcerer Supreme and mentor of the four founders of the first wizarding academy. However, as history marched on, practitioners of the craft would go from being respected members of the community (as they largely were in the First Civilization) to distrusted (as they were in the Hyborean Age) to outright reviled (as they would come to be following the fall of Rome and the rise of the Christian faith in Europe). These processes were part of the continual march of human development and, for better or worse, set the stage for the creation of the modern world. The beginning of the modern world can be said to have begun with the discovery of America. This sparked the beginning of the Age of Exploration. Over the course of this period, European powers began to establish colonies. Explorers like Jose de Silvestra and Lemuel Gulliver set out to discover new lands and locations around the globe. Ambitious conquerors like Hernan Cortes and Cutler Beckett sought to expand their nation’s power and influence over sought lands, building up colonies across the globe. Even as more and more territory was gobbled up by imperial powers, the seeds of the end of the imperial order were planted. The ideas of John Locke would inspire the first colonial breakaway from their motherland in North America, as the members of 13 British colonies along the East Coast steadily grew less satisfied with rule by Britain. Ultimately, the upstart colonies would go on to gain independence, aided by the assistance of foreign powers and a period of instability in the Atlantic Ocean driven by “the Alteration,” which weakened Britain’s ability to send troops to America. The US, while in its early days threatened with outright collapse or reconquest by Britain, would ultimately survive into the next century. Once the world entered 19th century, nations gained wealth as they built themselves up into imperial juggernauts. Nations like France, Britain and Russia carved out impressive empires—Britain’s in particular, stretching from the Draka colony of southern Africa to Australia, was widely considered the greatest the world had ever seen. By 1898, European nations had claimed control of all of Africa (outside of the nations of Ligeria, Zamunda and Wakanda), the Indian subcontinent, most of southeast Asia and most Pacific islands. The United States of America also greatly expanded—first into neighboring areas like the short-lived Arkansas Confederacy, later further and further west. Intrepid figures in the vein of Alvin Miller (founder of the Mormon faith) and Natty Bumpo helped the US ultimately stretch from coast to coast. Granted, there were low points for many nations—the British Troubles in the early 19th century saw much of the country infected by Solanum, many powers lost ground in the Napoleonic Wars following the disease-induced reduction of the world’s dragon population and America nearly split into two countries over the issue of slavery—but the period overall saw the growth of great powers occur unhindered. Technology drastically improved, as the steam engine, Maturinism and genetics all took off. The great inventors Frank Reade, Jack Wright, William Hattison and Tom Swift produced extremely useful machines that revolutionized daily life. All of these inventors built off of the steam engine that made railroads, steamboats and so many other new forms of technology possible. The advent of Maturinist theories surrounding evolution and the melding of this theory with genetics by Charles Darwin allowed for the beginning of bioengineering. Scientists like Dr. Alphonse Moreau began developing genetic splicing techniques. These discoveries also encouraged the rise of paleontology and investigations to seek out hypothesized “lost worlds” that would be discovered by the end of the century, though neither would survive long into the 20th. This improved technology led to the weakening of the power of magic. The advent of photography had marked the beginning of this decline but overall, these technological and scientific advances were seen as marking a continued ascendency of mankind. This lasted until the Mollusc invasion of 1898. Alien incursions on Earth were not new—the earliest documented invasions occurred at the hands of the “precursor” races of Goa’uld and Ancients, during the Hyborean Age, the Silurians are known to have visited the Earth during the Mesozoic era, Japan had been occupied by the Amanto during the late Edo period and there was a short-lived invasion scare prompted by the discovery of the ultimately harmless vespertillo-homo on the Moon in the 1840’s. However, the Mollusc invasion was the first direct incursion by aliens onto modern day Earth. Several million people worldwide would be killed outright by the invaders and others died from biological weapons utilized by the British to defeat the invasion. The hold of many colonial powers was weakened-for instance, British-ruled India successfully gained independence, as did the Dominion of Draka, while the United States nearly lost control of the Philippines and actually did lose the floating city-state of Columbia and experienced two black nationalist uprisings, as well as a short-lived invasion attempt by China. France and Germany also experienced major uprisings against their rule in their African territorial holdings that ultimately were mostly suppressed. There was another major blow to humanity after the Mollusc invasion that was primarily psychological. Most major world powers had, up until this point, regarded technology as forever marching forward. However, the invasion, in the words of Janos Bartak, showed “we have quite a way to go, both technologically and morally.” Portrait of Dr. Alphonse Moureau, creator of Moureau sapiens and hero of the Mollusc invasion Photograph of Mollusc tripods, 1898 References-Introduction Jodie Arthur-Joe’s descendent from the Time Warp Trio Shambhala-Mystical Buddhist civilization Gilgamesh-The first hero from the Epic of Gilgamesh Heracles-Greek name of Hercules Siegfired-Legendary Norse hero Sun Wukong-Chinese hero from Journey to the West First Civilization-The society responsible for creating the Pieces of Eden in Assassin’s Creed Atlantis-Legendary civilization that was destroyed by flooding Gauls they had never fully pacified-A nod to Asterix, where there is one village the Romans never conquered. In real life, all of Gaul was pacified Bending-From Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra Merlin-Overused wizard from Arthurian legend John Uskglass-The Raven King from Jonathan Strange and Ms. Norrell Sorcerer Supreme-Supreme magic user from Marvel Comics Four founders-The founders of Hogwarts from Harry Potter Hyborean Age-Ancient era where Conan the Barbarian was from Jose de Silvestra-From King Solomon’s Mine Lemuel Gulliver-From Gulliver’s Travels Hernan Cortes-Real life figure, based mainly on his Road to El Dorado incarnation Cutler Beckett-Main villain of the second and third Pirates of the Carribbean films The Alteration-From Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, which causes the eponymous sea monsters to appear Draka colony-From SM Stirling’s Domination series Ligeria-Country from the Canadian series InSecurity. Our Liberia analogue Zamunda-The country the main character in Coming to America originates from. Replaces Ethiopia here Wakanda-From Marvel comics. Mostly based on the MCU version Arkansas Confederacy-The Native American nation from the Trails of Glory alternate history series Alvin Miller-Protagonist of the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card Natty Bumpo-Lead character of the Leatherstocking Tales British Troubles-Not the ones involving Ireland from real life, but rather the zombie outbreak in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Solanum-Zombie virus name from The Zombie Survival Guide. The “original” zombie virus as variants will develop over time Dragon population-Refers to how dragons were used to fight the Napoleonic War in Temeraire Maturinism-Alternate Darwinism, named for Stephen Maturin of the Aubrey Maturin series Genetics-Developed by Charles Darwin here, as was the case in the backstory of Leviathan Frank Reade, Jack Wright, William Hattison, Tom Swift-Reade, Wright and Swift are all from their own separate series. Hattison is an Edison stand-in from The Conspiracy of Millionaires (translated from French). Alphonse Moureau-The titular character from The Island of Doctor Moureau Hypothesized “lost worlds”-Refers both to Maple White Land from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle and the inhabitants of the hollow Earth from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne Mollusc invasion-The Martian invasion from War of the Worlds. Its name reflects the fact the invaders are not in fact Martians and is taken from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Goa’uld-The creators of the Stargate who like to imitate gods Ancients-The Assassin’s Creed precursor race Silurians-Reptilian race from Doctor Who Japan occupied by the Amanto race-The setting of the manga Gintama, where a corrupt Shogun surrenders to the aforementioned aliens to further his own hold on power and limit the power of samurai Vespertillo-homo-The “Man-bats” from the Great Moon Hoax of the 1840’s. Biological weapons-How the British defeat the invasion in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen India gained independence-Taken from the events depicted in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches Columbia-The floating city where Bioshock: Infinite takes places Two black nationalist uprisings-One is from Simon Grigg’s novel Imperium, the other is from The Year 1899 Invasion attempt by China-From A Short and Truthful History of the Taking of California and Oregon by the Chinese in the Year 1899 Janos Bartok-Nikola Tesla stand-in from the TV series Legendary Category:Books